My Hero

There’s always someone we want to be like. When we’re younger it’s usually someone as far-fetched as our favorite character in a book such as Harry Potter and his crew or Nancy Drew. As we grow older, our influences begin to change; we grow out of our super hero stage. Around that age, we tend to be influenced by our parents, the people we spend the most time with. Eventually we begin to notice that there are other people in the world to strive to be like. Eventually we meet the one person who inspires us the most; the person who we want to be just like. To meet this person could take years, realizing the influence they have on you could take longer. I was fortunate enough to meet that person my ninth grade year. Unfortunately, I did not realize his influence on me until last year. I have been doing all that I can to make up for that lost time and learn as much as I can from the one person who influences me the most. For me, that person is my math teacher, Mr. Toulson.

Although he is not a very tall man, Mr. Toulson has a big heart. He is dedicated and hardworking, but always knows how to have fun. He can be strict and keeps us in line, but he can also crack a joke when appropriate. He is full of funny stories and always has a new one to tell, most of them involving something incredibly geeky. He takes pride in the fact that he has seen Star Wars over 100 times, and is, in fact, a nerd. He has introduced me to the many wonders of math. I enjoyed math before I had him as a teacher, but because of him, I have fallen head over heals in love with it. Being around him always instantly lightens my mood, no matter how bad of a day I’m having. In his classroom he creates an environment in which everyone feels comfortable and no one is afraid to share their opinion on the topic of discussion for the day. We are all treated equally and given the same opportunities. He never hesitates to help any one in need. He is a math genius, a nerd, a guitar hero, and a friend to many. He is my favorite teacher and I hope to one day be like him.

I have had Mr. Toulson as a teacher for four years. In that time, he has been more than a teacher to me; he has also been a friend. Whenever I needed help with anything, even if it had nothing to do with math, he would do his best to help me. I can always count on him to be there when I need him, even if it is just to escape the grind of school work, presentations, tests, and homework by discussing the latest episode of Lost, or our all-time favorite, Star Wars. He’s not just this way for me, however, but for all of his students. Along with teaching math at our school, he’s also involved in student council and playing the guitar in his church’s band, all while raising two sons. Despite all of this going on in his life, he always finds time to be there for his students, even when they don’t want him to be. Of course, as are all teachers, he’s not always well-liked. Sometimes he is disliked for the amount of homework he gives, or for reinforcing the rules set up by him or the administration to keep us in a safe, comfortable environment.  People also don’t like that they are always stuck spending hours doing things last minute because they just didn't want to listen when he told them not to wait. Sometimes they get in trouble with him for doing things they’re not supposed to, and that makes them angry. He makes us work hard when we want to relax. He makes us keep trying when we want to quit. He is with us through and through, always, not because he has to be, but because he wants to be. Any teacher could just as easily give up or not be there, but they don’t; he doesn’t. He is not set back by this, however, he continues with what he set out to do, teach and inspire young minds. It’s these traits that make him not only a great teacher, but some one I want to be like.

He has also influenced me on a more personal level. When I was about seven, my dad left us and re-enlisted in the military. Soon after, my parents divorced, and the only males in our house became our pets. Since then, I have never had a permanent father-figure in my life. While Mr. Toulson isn’t exactly a father-figure to me, he’s one of the closest I’ve had. When ever I see him in town with his family, he always makes a point to stop and talk to me, and I am always envious of them. He always tells us of the crazy stories he experiences in his home life and the extremes he goes through to make his family happy and comfortable. That’s something I want. I want to have a family that’s whole and happy. I’m not saying we’re not a happy family, we are, but there always seemed to be something missing, and there always will. On top of this, he has helped me to re-connect with myself. During my junior year in high school, I took a course in psychology. In this class, if I wanted to get the most out of it, I had to take an in-depth look at myself. In doing the exercises and writing my final in the end, I began to question who I was; was I really myself, or was I just the outcome of all the influences in my life? Did I really have any control over who I was? Everything seemed surreal while I was in that class, I began to feel as though I was losing my sense of self. Right after psychology, I had math. As soon as I entered that room, everything would bounce back to reality. I would be back in my comfort zone. Math was simple, and straight forward, I didn’t have to know who I was to do math. I didn’t have to know why I was who I was to solve a quadratic equation. Math has been one of the few constants in my life and the man teaching it to me has been constant as well. Mr. Toulson has helped me to feel as though I have some form of control in my life. I learned that what I had feared, not being my own person, was true, but at the same time, I was in control. I am the outcome of the influences in my life, but I choose what the outcome will be. Although he may not know it, Mr. Toulson helped me to keep myself together and to learn something about myself.

Everything we do is influenced, in some way, by something else; whether we are influenced by a commercial to buy a product or by our friends to do an activity. We are influenced to do things all the time. Sometimes, we could be influenced by something without even realizing it, such as music, movies, or books. As we are influenced by our friends to participate in an extracurricular, read a book, take a class, watch a TV show etc, we are also influenced by other people in deciding what we want to do with the rest of our lives. While that decision is based on many other factors as well, it takes inspiration and help to get there. It’s hard to imagine that one person could inspire you; that one person could change your life forever. For me that inspiration is Mr. Toulson, a man who is not only my math teacher but the person who has influenced me to be who I am today and who I strive to be in the future.